MURRIETA: Commissions resplendent with volunteers

Murrieta's commissions are resplendent with new and familiar
faces after the City Council appointed a dozen volunteers Tuesday
to serve on five panels.

Council members voted unanimously, with Councilman Alan Long
absent, to appoint the candidates recommended by Long and
Councilman Rick Gibbs, who served on a subcommittee that conducted
preliminary interviews.

Council members reappointed Alan Maretsky and added Rodney
Strate to the Traffic Commission; reappointed Catherine Bearse and
added Gregory Burks and Salvador Rangel to the Community Services
Commission; reappointed Christina Bell and added Nancy Dixon to the
Library Advisory Commission; and appointed Jackie Ashby and Joan
Padberg to the Historic Preservation Advisory Commission.

Those commissioners will serve three-year terms beginning July 1
and ending June 30, 2014.

Council members also appointed three people to the Planning
Commission, which is the most demanding of the groups.

After an hour-long interview of four finalists for three
positions before the start of Tuesday's council meeting, council
members appointed Ruthanne Taylor-Berger and reappointed current
Commissioner Gregory Goodman to three-year terms. They also
appointed resident Raymond Seda to a one-year term that will end
next June.

Goodman has completed two years on the commission, having filled
the seat left vacant by a commissioner who left before the end of
his term. Goodman said during his interview that if he was
reappointed he would dedicate his next term to better understanding
zoning issues.

"I believe that's one of the critical aspects," Goodman said.
"We're, quite frankly, just running out of room and (having) a
better understanding of that will help."

Council members also offered a three-year term to Taylor-Berger,
who is the deputy executive director at Western Riverside Council
of Governments, a regional body representing the interests of all
the Southwest County cities.

Taylor-Berger told council members that her workload has
decreased over the last few years and she hoped to bring her
talents and experience in working with the private and public
sectors back to her hometown.

"I know how government works, I know how to use those powers for
good," she said. "I think I'm a great consensus builder, a good
listener."

Council members opted to give the available one-year term to
Seda, who told commissioners he previously served on the
Westminster Planning Commission. During his interview, Seda
illustrated his understanding of the role of a planning
commissioner by sharing details about decisions he'd voted on as a
commissioner, his experiences in setting aside his personal
feelings about proposed projects and focusing instead on the
project's potential as it relates to the interests of the city, and
he told council members that the relationship between planning
commissioners and city staff planners is crucial to getting things
done.

"I've lived in Murrieta for six years and I lived in Temecula
for 20, so I've been in the area for quite a while," Seda said.
"I've seen it grow from basically nothing."

The appointments concluded when City Clerk Kay Vinson swore in
those who attended the meeting.